Hubble Space Telescope (HST) composite view of starburst Galaxy NGC 3310, which is forming clusters of new stars at incredible speed. Several hundred star clusters are visible in the image as bright blue diffuse objects that trace the spiral galaxy's arms. Each star cluster represents formations of up to, or more than a million stars, a process taking less than 100,000 years. In addition, hundreds of individual younger luminous stars may been seen throughout Galaxy NGC 3310. Measurement of cluster colors suggests ages ranging from one million to more than one hundred million years of age. Located in the direction Constellation Ursa Major, NGC 3310 has a distance of about 59 million light years. HST's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) photographed NGC 3310 in March 1997 and again in September 2000.

plus-circle Add Review

comment

Reviews